Deskstar 60GXP firmware update

[neoplasticity]

I need to do the update to A45A firmware and i downloaded the program
but it wants to make floppies to boot with and update the firmware.

1 problem. no floppy drive.

also, im afraid to open up my computer and install a floppy drive
becasue every time i muck around in this computer, the deskstar drive
is incorrectly recognized by the bios, istead of seeing it as the
drive, it sees it as a garbled string of symbols. then i end up
playing with it for several hours unplugging and plugging the thing
back in until somehow it finally recognizes it.

does anyone know of a way to make a bootable cd to update this
firmware?

thanks!

 

[Rod Speed]

I need to do the update to A45A firmware and i downloaded the program
but it wants to make floppies to boot with and update the firmware.

1 problem. no floppy drive.

also, im afraid to open up my computer and install a floppy drive
becasue every time i muck around in this computer, the deskstar
drive is incorrectly recognized by the bios, istead of seeing it as
the drive, it sees it as a garbled string of symbols. then i end up
playing with it for several hours unplugging and plugging the thing
back in until somehow it finally recognizes it.

Most likely a bad ribbon cable, try another.

 

[neoplasticity]

yeah, i tried that. no dice.

tried diffent power jacks as well.

moving around the jumpers doesnt seem to work either

it seems to be random.. so it leads me to think that my drive is on the
edge of failure and its just squirrelly

 

[Rod Speed]

yeah, i tried that. no dice.

Then its likely a cracked trace or a dry joint.

tried diffent power jacks as well.

moving around the jumpers doesnt seem to work either

it seems to be random..

It doesnt appear to be random if it
happens when you get into the case.

so it leads me to think that my drive is on
the edge of failure and its just squirrelly

If it is, updating the firmware wont help.

 

[neoplasticity]

i was under the impression that the firmware was specifically put out
there becase the deskstar 75GXP and 60GXP drives had such a high
failure rate hence the "DeathStar" moniker.

http://faq.storagereview.com/tiki-index.php?page=DeathStar


and yes it could definitely be a cracked trace... though i would think
that that would give me problems beyond just having the bios not
recognize the drive intermittently.

regardless, if anyone has a solution to how to update the firmware
without a floppy drive, that would be great. i know im not the only
person without a floppy on their machine.. i have access to a computer
with a floppy and a burner if there is a way to make the floppies on
another computer and then use that computer to makea bootable cd from
them...

 

[Rod Speed]

i was under the impression that the firmware was specifically
put out there becase the deskstar 75GXP and 60GXP drives
had such a high failure rate hence the "DeathStar" moniker.
http://faq.storagereview.com/tiki-index.php?page=DeathStar

Its a myth that the firmware fixes the problem they had.

and yes it could definitely be a cracked trace... though
i would think that that would give me problems beyond
just having the bios not recognize the drive intermittently.

Not necessarily if the farting around you have to do to get
it seen again just closes up the gap and it stays fine until
its physically disturbed again with you inside the case again.

I got that with a Fujitsu and it turned out to be a cracked
solder joint on the power connector. It would run fine for
a long time and it was only unplugging the power and
inserting it again that was enough to cause it to play up
again. In that case you could hear the drive spin down
and spin up again as the power connector was flexed.

regardless, if anyone has a solution to how to update the
firmware without a floppy drive, that would be great. i know
im not the only person without a floppy on their machine..
i have access to a computer with a floppy and a burner if
there is a way to make the floppies on another computer and
then use that computer to make a bootable cd from them...

OK, then try doing it with nero with the floppy you produce on that machine.

Its pretty obvious in nero how to make a bootable CD from a bootable floppy.

 

[neoplasticity]

yes, but the firmware update is 2 disks. i couldn't figure out how to
do two disks onto one cd and it does not seem to let me swap cds like
swapping floppies.

 

[Rod Speed]

yes, but the firmware update is 2 disks. i couldn't
figure out how to do two disks onto one cd and it does
not seem to let me swap cds like swapping floppies.

The creation of bootable CDs allows for that, basically allows
for the bootable CD to be bigger than what fits on a single floppy.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

The creation of bootable CDs allows for that, basically allows
for the bootable CD to be bigger than what fits on a single floppy.

Not in Floppy emulation.
But floppy emulation can support 2.88MB so 2 current floppies data
worth can fit. How to do that without a 2.88 drive is another matter.

 

[Rod Speed]

Not in Floppy emulation.

Thanks for that completely superfluous proof
that you've never ever had a ****ing clue.

But floppy emulation can support 2.88MB
so 2 current floppies data worth can fit.

Wot I said, ****wit.

How to do that without a 2.88 drive is another matter.

Thanks for that completely superfluous proof
that you've never ever had a ****ing clue.

 

[Andy Lee]

yes, but the firmware update is 2 disks. i couldn't figure out how to
do two disks onto one cd and it does not seem to let me swap cds like
swapping floppies.

Consider buying or loaning a USB External floppy drive?